Stone Square

in Memory of
S 1/C George L. Stone
Born: March 16, 1919
Killed in action aboard USS Quincy, Sayo Island
August 9, 1942

The beginning of World War II found the heavy cruiser USS Quincy in the Atlantic on convoy duty. In 1942 whe was transfered to the Pacific fleet to take part in the ivasion of Guadalcanal. The Japanese had taken the Philipines from the US, Malaysia from the British, and the East Indies from the Dutch, and were gobbling up the rest of the Pacific. They had taken Guadalcanal, the largest of the Solomon Islands, in May. US Marines landed in August, and the ground fighting would continue for six months before the final Japanese evacuation.

The invasion began August 7th. The Quincy shelled Japanese positions before the landings, and provided anti-aircraft fire and artillery support for the troops once ashore. By the end of the 8th, she was stationed to the north of the beachhead. Before sunrise on the 9th the Japanese fleet attacked, and the Quincy's battle turned into an old fashioned ship-to-ship artillery duel.

The USS Quincy was the first ship to sink in an area that became known as Ironbottom Sound. She has been reported to still be sitting, upright, though missing her bow forward of the gun turrets, in 3000 feet of water. Nearly half her crew, including her captain and Seaman Stone, went down with her.

George Stone's memorial stands at the intersection of Hamilton and Almont streets.

Migauckas Square

in Memory of
Sergt Thomas J. Migauckas
Company C 101st Engineers
Born: May 5, 1891
Killed in action at St. Mihiel
September 12, 1918

The memorial for Sgt. Migauckas stands at the intersection of Providence and Harrison streets. He was a graduate of Holy Cross '14, and apparently a lawyer, so I'm a bit surprised to find him in the ranks rather than commissioned. This entry is quoted from Holy Cross College Service Record, War of 1917, published by the college:

"Lawyer. Worcester, Mass. He enlisted with the 101st Regiment of U.S. engineers in May, 1917, at Boston, Mass. Here he received the usual training in the Boston Armory and was made a corporal. He sailed for France, September 24th, 1917 and was there assigned to an officer's training school. With the rank of Sargeant he was in the engagements at Chateau Thierry, Marne River and St. Mihiel, and was killed by a machine gun bullet through the heart at St. Mihiel, September 12, 1918."

Beinar Square

in Memory of
Lt. Theopilus E. Beinar, USAF
Born: November 28, 1919
Killed in plane flight at Elmshausen Bergstrasse, Erback, Germany
April, 13, 1944

Theopilus Beinar signed up in February of 1942, a couple of months after Pearl Harbor. Whatever he was before the war, he must have brought something into the service, because though enlisted as a Private, it was apparently already intended that he be made a warrant officer. As it turned out, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and assigned to the 545th Bombardment Squadron, in the 384th Bomb Group.

He served as a navigator on B-17 Flying Fortresses on at least nine missions, one of which ended with a bad landing that destroyed the plane, though the crew was not injured. His last flight was aboard the 42-31048 - if the plane had a nickname, or nose art a la Big Chief Cockeye, I found no record.

The April 13th mission targeted a ball bearing plant in Schweinfurt, Germany. Ball bearings were used in planes, trains, tanks, and the entirety of German industry, so the bombing would certainly have made sense. And, of course, it made sense for the Germans to try to stop it. Of 23 Flying Fortresses on the mission, six were lost. Some of the crewmen made it to earth, to become POWs, but this only included one person from Beinar's plane.

Lieutenant Beinar's memorial stands at Vernon and Harlem Streets.

Kirminas Square

in Memory of
T/Sgt. Daniel V. Kirminas
Born: August 12, 1920
Killed in action – Neuss, Germany
March 1, 1945

This memorial stands on the corner of Providence and Aetna streets, by Worcester Academy. Sgt. Kirminas joined the army in November of 1942, and served in the 329th infantry, 83rd Division. He fought in Normandy, and in the Battle of the Bulge; the boots-on-the-ground, which-way-to-Berlin part of the war.

Having survived the Bulge, he was killed in one of a series of comparatively minor clashes as his unit moved east. The 83rd rolled on, taking town after town, capturing Neuss on March 1st. Unfortunately, "comparatively minor" battles still carried real risk.

From Neuss, the 83rd would go on to liberate Langenstein, a subcamp of Buchenwald. When the war in Europe ended, the 329th would be the American unit closest to Berlin. Even before Neuss, Kirminas saw plenty of war. He couldn't be blamed if he approved of letting the Russians do as much of the fighting as possible. But he was Lithuanian, so I can't help wondering whether he wouldn't have prefered to see his buddies keep going east, until they marched beyond Berlin into Moscow...

Keating Square

in Memory of
Pvt. Thomas F. Keating
Born: August 23, 1906
Killed in action – Brouvelieurs, France
October 20, 1944

At the intersection of Green, Franklin and Foster streets there are three memorial markers. To judge by the listing at the WPL site, two of them must have been relocated from nearby spots, and this memorial to Thomas Keating was apparently the first one here. It is the only memorial I've seen so far with a second plaque affixed to it, on the front of the stone. (This is also the first one photographed properly, by my wife. Thanks, Christina.) So I shall let this one speak for itself:

Second Purple Heart Awarded

April 10, 1992

For wounds received in action October 20, 1944

          Official record corrected after grandson of Private Thomas F. Keating uncovered proof that, although thought to be missing in action, Private Keating had been wounded in August of 1944, which represented the missing record that should have resulted in the first Purple Heart. Private Keating wrote to his son describing his injuries as: "a slight wound in the head and thigh...will be better soon."

          After recovering he was driven back to the front by a friend in his ambulance. He was assigned to the 179th Infantry Division, where he was involved in a battle surrounding Brouvelieurs, France as mentioned on the original memorial.

          His son, Thomas F. Keating, wrote while kneeling at the grave site in Epial, France 48 years later:

          "A feeling of peaceful tranquility comes over you at this beautiful place. Heroes close to God."

M.I. Keating 2004

Kosciuszek Square

in Memory of
S/Sgt. Peter P. Kosciuszek
Born August 5, 1919
Killed in Japan
July 4, 1944

When I first read this plaque at the intersection of Providence and Upsala Streets , I wondered how this man came to be in Japan in the first place. The usual practice for the Japanese was to hold their prisoners near the areas in which they were captured. They wouldn't normally transport them to Japan. I wondered if he were perhaps shot down over Japan.

What I found was that Peter Kosciuszek was assistant engineer (& gunner; apparently everyone was "& gunner" when the time came) of a B-24 Liberator nicknamed the Big Chief Cockeye. (I think this image of the nose art is in the public domain; if anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.) Unfortunately, I'm not at all sure that the memorial plaque is correct.

There is a fair amount of material available on the Big Chief, which crashed into a mountain on the Indonesian island of Ceram on July 5, 1944. Originally the entire crew was considered KFA - killed in a flying accident. Some sources available on line still list them all that way. It is, after all, what you would expect from a crash like that.

I found one source that states there was one survivor, the weather observer, who was captured and died in a POW camp before VJ day. That sounds all too plausible, and the story could have come from camp records or surviving prisoners. But on a website dedicated to Liberators I also found a claim that three crew members were captured and executed by the Japanese. The three were unnamed, and no source was given for the information. This doesn't strike me as likely. Taking them to Japan for execution is implausible, and if they were shot where they were found, who would know?

A few years after the war, Sgt. Kosciuszek was laid to rest at Honolulu Cemetary, but whether his remains were brought from Indonesia or somewhere else, I don't know. In the absence of any other information, I'm inclined to think he was killed in the crash, or just possibly, shot on Ceram. If anyone out there does have more information, please, let me know.

A brief administrative post

At least a couple of people tried to leave comments and were unable to. I apologize, because I definitely want everyone to be able to contribute. (I especially want to hear from anyone with information about anyone commemorated in the Memorial Squares.) I think I have corrected the problem; please let me know if there is any further difficulty.

The photographs I've been using were taken by me, on my cell phone. I am pleased to announce that my wife, a real photographer, has volunteered to get me decent photographs to work with. As her schedule permits, the quality of the pictures will be upgraded. Thanks, Christina!

Finally, If you are justs discovering this blog, I recommend beginning with the original post. After that, there is no particular sequence.

Sullivan Square

in Memory of
Private Charles J. Sullivan
Company G 101st Infantry
Born: February 27, 1901
Killed in action at Aisne-Marne, France
July 21, 1918

I found this marker at Lincoln and Melrose only after hearing the story of Charlie Sullivan. Worcester has a longer memory than I thought. I turn the rest of this post over to Beth Savage:

"I'm not sure if I ever told you about my grandfather, Francis E. Savage. He dropped out of school at 16 to join the army during WWI. He ended up in the Emmet Guard, led by General Foley. (Foley Stadium, where my father worked, was named for him.)

"My grandfather joined up with his friend Charlie. About 6 months later, Charlie was killed by a bomb dropped from a plane. My grandfather carried him back to the trenches even though he knew Charlie was dead.

"He spent most of his time on the front lines in France where he received a Silver Star and later, a Purple Heart.

"After the war, he couldn't find a job as a plumber so he joined the Worcester Police Dept and became a detective. At the time, a bunch of the Emmets' became cops as well. He must have been a pretty well known figure (although I wasn't aware of it) since he had a scrapbook full of newspaper articles that referred to him. Some are related to his work as a cop and with the veterans, but there are also short little "sightings".

"My father and I have been working on finding out more about his ancestors and relatives- he never knew much about his aunts, uncles, and cousins on either side. I've got bits and pieces on this. Here's what I know:

"His name was Charles Sullivan. He lived in the North End, near the Armory, but I don't have an address. He and my grandfather lived next door to each other. I don't have an exact age, but he must have been pretty close to my grandfather. I think he was probably older since there's a comment about my great-grandmother having to give permission for my grandfather to join (required at 16), but nothing about Charles having to do the same.

"He would have been in the 101st Infantry, Company G, 26th division.

"They joined in April 1917. In the fall, they were part of the first American Expeditionary Force division to fight with the French on the front lines. My grandfather was also at Verdun, but I'm pretty sure that was after Charles died. I can go through my records again to check if it matters.

"The Emmet Guard was named for Robert Emmet and was mostly full of Irish soldiers.

"Charles died in July 1918 at Chateau Thierry along with some other friends of my grandfather.

"The quote I have from my grandfather is that he carried Charles back to the trench even though "I knew absolutely he was dead." The quote is from an article in the T&G about my grandfather retiring- I've seen it in another article as well.

"I also have the following and lots of info about the cemetery itself (including a nice brochure and a little video).

"Charles J. Sullivan
Private First Class, U.S. Army
101st Infantry Regiment, 26th Division
Entered the Service from: Massachusetts
Died: July 21, 1918
Buried at: Plot A Row 12 Grave 30
Aisne-Marne American Cemetery
Belleau, France

"I doubt that there's a memorial for him in Worcester since I'm sure my grandfather would have mentioned it. On the other hand… maybe there is one! If so, I'd love to know about it."

Lonergan Square

In Memory of
Private John F. Lonergan
Born: August 4, 1892
Died in service in France
October 3, 1918

Not everyone has a dramatic personal story. If John Lonergan did, I haven't found it. I barely found confirmation that he did serve and he did die, and I already accepted the evidence of the plaque on those points. Was he married? Was he in the army looking for glory, or for three meals a day, or because he heard girls love a man in uniform?

Herbert Stake clearly lied to enlist, so he must have believed in what he was doing. Odds are good that at his age he was still single. I felt safe drawing conclusions like that about him from what little information I had.

The only thing this plaque tells me is that John Lonergan did not die as a direct result of the war. The phrase "died in service" implies that he died of natural causes. Throughout history, more troops have been killed by disease  than by their enemies. In France, in the fall of 1918, it's almost certain he died of the flu. There's a dramatic story to be told about Lonergan's death, but he appears in it as an extra, one of the 100 million killed in what John Barry called "The Deadliest Pandemic in History" in his excellent book, The Great Influenza.

It may be appropriate that his memorial sits in front of a medical building, at the intersection of Vernon and Winthrop, but I can't convince myself that he would appreciate the irony.

Stake Square

There's nothing unusual about cities putting up war memorials, but Worcester takes an unusual approach. In addition to the usual memorials, it names intersections after individuals. Nobody uses, or even knows, these names. People pass the piece of granite with the bronze plaque on the streetcorner with eyes glazed over. If they ever glance at it, they see a name that means nothing to them. Not only is the Greatest Generation thin on the ground and fading fast, but babies born after WWII are retiring now. For the kids who pass Stake Square (the intersection of Ames and Stockton) as they enter Vernon Park, the plaque may as well commemorate Caesar's Gallic Wars.

But I recently started walking a couple of miles around my neighborhood every morning, and the plaque for Seaman 1/c Herbert Stake, Jr caught my eye. He was lost at sea off Anzio Beach. It seemed so sad, so lacking, compared with all the "died of wounds received" or "killed in action" plaques. I wanted to know what had happened to him.  I doubted that anyone would remember. It seemed unlikely that he'd left a wife and child behind, and surely his parents are long gone. If any collateral relatives remain in the Worcester area, it's unlikely they're old enough to remember him.

I tried reading what I could into the plaque. A block away is a marker for a Seaman 2/c five years Stake's senior (though perhaps not senior in service), so I decided that Stake must have given satisfactory service to rate 1/c. It's far from the top of the pyramid, but I pegged him for a guy who did his work well and pulled his own weight. I didn't think I would be able to find anything else to satisfy my curiosity, but I googled Seaman Stake anyway.

I got three hits for the right person. One informed me that his parents had once lived a few streets away from the marker. Another was the list maintained by Worcester Public Library of all the memorial squares in the city. The third was a webpage memorializing all the crewmen of LCIs - Landing Craft Infantry - killed in action. Stake was listed as lost with the LCI 32, sunk by a mine.

There were 23 names listed under the LCI 32, the longest list on  the page. I thought, some of these can't be crewmen; this must include passengers being brought ashore. But a quick search told me the LCI's were far larger than I thought. This ship was over 150 feet long, built to land 200 infantry at a time, with two dozen or more crew.

It sank on the 26th of January, 1944. The landings at Anzio had begun the 22nd, and were nearly unopposed. That first trip into shore must have been nerve-wracking, but by the 26th, I concluded, it must have been routine. Sure, there would be more fighting to come, but Stake and his crewmates must have figured they'd weathered the worst for now. The mine must have come as a shock. But 23 men lost? If that wasn't the entire crew, it must have been close, and there was a whold flotilla of ships of Anzio. Why wasn't anyone rescued?

Then it hit me. Because if you wanted to rescue them, you needed to follow them into a minefield. If ever anything says "proceed with caution," "minefield" is it.

Now that I had the ship's designation, I was able to find one last site that gave me more of the story. In the early hours of the morning of the 26th, a storm drove the LST 422 into a known minefield, where it began to sink. In 20 to 30 foot seas that were pushing around larger ships than the LCI 32, and the winds to create such seas (and did I mention hail?), the LCI 32 was one of the ships that knew, whatever I thought in the last paragraph, you don't leave men in the water. They went into the minefield to rescue the men of the LST 422. There it became the second ship to sink, with almost all of its crew.

Now, the thing that caught my eye when I glanced at this particular plaque was a date. I thought, "That can't be right," and stopped to take a closer look, and start researching. Because when Herbert Stake, Jr. went into the sea off Anzio, he was 16 years old.

My mind protests, tries to reach back across the decades, tries to put a hand on this boy's shoulder and tell him, "Herbie, you don't belong here. Go on home, go back to school." But he's having none of my condescension. He just shrugs my hand off, and says, "My name isn't Herbie, Pops, it's Seaman Stake, and I've got work to do."

Stake Square

In Memory of

S 1/c Herbert Stake, Jr.

Born July 26, 1927

Lost at Sea

Anzio Beach, Italy

Jan. 26, 1944